Noy backs Asean connectivity

HANOI, Vietnam – President Aquino pledged support Thursday to link up with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to help each other in disaster management in times of calamity.

Speaking during the leaders’ retreat at the National Convention Center, where the 17th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits were held, Mr. Aquino said joint cooperation among neighbors would be very helpful when calamity strikes.

“The Philippines is prepared to more actively engage ASEAN member states in finding a creative solution to the funding provision in the agreement to establish the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management to enable it to be fully operational in 2011,” he said.

“We recognize the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management’s sustained efforts to complete the Standard Operating Procedures for Regional Standby Arrangements and Coordination of Joint Disaster Relief and Emergency Response particularly on the facilitation and utilization of military assets and capacities.”

Mr. Aquino said the Philippines has already introduced the ASEAN roll-on-roll-off network since each member country is geographically separated from the Asian mainland.

“We initiated the inclusion of the ASEAN RO-RO network in the ASEAN Connectivity Master Plan as a way of supplementing road linkages with maritime access to improve connectivity within the region. We hope this would receive full ASEAN support, as well as the support of the private sector,” he said.

Mr. Aquino told his ASEAN colleagues the Philippines supports the finalization of the ASEAN Communication Master Plan.

“(The government is) prepared to make a contribution to the ASEAN Development Fund and the ASEAN Foundation to support ASEAN communication activities,” he said.

“I am committed to make the Philippines a predictable and consistent place for investment and a reliable member of the international community. I hope to work together with fellow member states of ASEAN to harmonize my national interests with my country’s regional responsibilities.

“Stronger economic growth and investments in infrastructure, utilities, and job-generating enterprises are deliverables, which I believe will keep us on the path of sustained recovery and development.”

The Philippines intends to further strengthen efforts and undertake concrete actions to respond to climate change, he added.

Mr. Aquino said the government acknowled-ges support for Filipino migrant workers in other ASEAN countries, contributing to their economies and sending remittances back home.

“It (government) is committed to work for the promotion and protection of the rights of migrant workers and their families,” he said.

“I look forward to the resumption of the drafting of the instrument to implement the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in due time.”

The Coast Guard has also signed two agreements with Vietnam’s military and search and rescue agency for better maritime search and rescue collaboration, and oil spill response.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo, who joined President Aquino’s state visit to Vietnam, described the trip as “rewarding” after they signed pacts with the Armed Forces of Vietnam and the National Vietnam Search and Rescue Commission.

Tamayo said the agreements have spelled out two areas of cooperation between the Philippines and Vietnam.

“It strengthens our partnership since there are plenty of maritime concerns between the two countries first on the humanitarian side to render assistance to their vessel in distress, our vessel in distress or any vessel from another country in distress in our waterway particularly in the high seas. So on the matter of rendering assistance, it is more binding,” he said.

Tamayo said these agreements are in compliance with the demands of the international community that requires countries to assist each other in times of distress.

It is essential to build cooperation with neighboring countries to address oil spill problems since the Philippines is an archipelago in the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, he added.

Tamayo said these agreements will also enhance information exchange between the Philippines and Vietnam in human smuggling, drug trafficking, and anti-piracy campaign.

Both countries have also been offering shelters to vessels caught in bad weather, he added.

Delon Porcalla, Philippine Star